First, I would like to define the cloud. In the simplest terms, cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of on your computer’s hard drive. It is nothing more than Web-based services.
The cloud is just a metaphor for the Internet. Cloud computing means instead of all the computer hardware and software you are using sitting on your desktop or somewhere inside your company’s network, this hardware and software is provided to you as a service by another company’s network. It is accessed over the Internet, usually in a completely seamless way. Exactly where the hardware and software is located and how it works doesn’t matter to the user. It is just up there in the nebulous “cloud” that the Internet represents.